The real China

This is the real China

I woke at 0530 (to the sound of someone chopping firewood) due to jetlag which I fully intend to use this in my favour with early buses and trains ahead. I had slept very well despite the bed being so hard. It felt like a plywood board padded with blankets. So, curious as I am, I lifted up the sheets to see if it was the case. No, it was a proper mattress. How (and why) would anyone make a spring mattress that feels like that?

I feel like I’m in the real China (even though large cities are the new real China). From my room, I can see the neighbour manuring his vege patch. Even though Likeng seems to be setup for tourism the visitors are largely (nearly exclusively) domestic and not in high volume. Many visitors also only drop-in briefly rather than stay for several days like what I’m doing. It’s certainly more rustic and real compared to places like Lijiang or Zhouzhuang … which are very nice of course but somewhat plastic in comparison.

A quick walk around the village showed the breakfast choices as noodles (soup or fried), deep-fried dough-stick (youtiau), hard-boiled eggs, steamed buns (baozi) … accompanied by soya-milk. I don’t think the shops sell bread so there wouldn’t be any toast. You’d be very lucky to find instant coffee too. I chose the noodle soup which was delicious.

Long Day Out: Sixi and Yancun

The six of us (me, two Brits and three Fuzhou) set off at 0800 for what would be a long day of sightseeing. The shared transport arrangement covering quite a large distance cost us only CNY50 (NZD10) per person. We couldn’t have done it cheaper by motor-cycle taxis and it would have been impossible to cover so much ground by public bus. With the drizzle, the shared transport was definitely the right choice!

First stop was a lovely old village of Sixi and neighbouring Yancun.

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: The bridge at Sixi, near Wuyuan.

: Wheelbarrow on the bridge at Sixi.

: The river at Sixi is very pretty, only to be ruined by …

: … only to be ruined by someone washing out a potty. Number Ones only I hope.

: A typical home and ancestral hall that is open to visitors. It feels strange stepping into someone’s living room so I typically just step in or poke my head in.

: Typical Sixi village alley. The area is rather wet as evidenced by lots of green moss.

: Poster on a door.

: Many Sixi homes are intricately decorated with carvings.

: Door handle on a Sixi home.

: Good luck character on a wall in Sixi. Someone tell me what he banner says please.

: Water pump … someone tell me what the four characters say.

: Typical river scene with people doing their washing. Some even beat their laundry like an Indian dhobi.

: Looking down on Sixi village.

: Looking down on Sixi village.

: I have this fascination about chickens and their body shapes. Chickens here are quite squat and chubby whereas in Indonesia they are very skinny, long-legged and “diagonal” if you know what I mean.

Long Day Out: Yantian

Next was another village called Yantian with a gigantic camphor tree by the river.

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: Clean squat toilets near a village entrance which is ironically finger-print controlled. Mum once told me that umbrellas are a “must” when visiting China as toilets have no doors … in this case one needs an umbrella.

: Yantian village with the big camphor tree.

: Yantian village with the big camphor tree.

: At our lunchstop, we went into the kitchen to choose what we’d like. Never trust a chef that won’t let you see the kitchen.

: Chinese ham and vegetables on rice in a wooden pot. Yummy.

Long Day Out: Dazhang & Hanxu

We had a great lunch in a restaurant near Mt Dazhang then proceeded the walk part-way up the mountain. It was very scenic with the greenery, cascade and bridges.

Next were two caves, a cavernous one which I can’t remember the name of … plus a second one called Hanxu which is a maze of over 2km spread over 7 levels. It took us an hour to go through the standard route finishing with a boat-ride to the exit. Both caves involved a lengthy hike to the entrance and combined with the Mt Dazhang hike I was worn out by now.

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: Going up (part-way) Mt Dazhang. The whole trip would have taken too much time … so we didn’t.

: Stream along the way.

: Inside the cavernous first cave which I don’t remember the name of. Nice jelly-fish shaped stalagmite.

: Bad shot of Hanxu Cave attempting to show the multi-tier layout.

: Sometimes in China, they think that if they spell in pinyin, foreigners will understand. As Chinese characters are ideograms, they transcend dialects and languages (eg. Japanese). So they expect pinyin to be understood by English, Spanish, Italian etc.

Long Day Out: Baizhu

We then visited Baizhu Ancestral Hall by a river … and that was when I noticed that the local buildings have rather phallic (actually, double-phallic) … errr … cross-members as supports.

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: Baizhu ancestral hall.

: Baizhu ancestral hall.

: Baizhu ancestral hall.

: Baizhu ancestral hall. What’s with the double-headed phallic cross-members? I should get my mind out of the gutter?

Long Day Out: Qinghua

Finally, we stopped at the town of Qinghua to visit the Rainbow Bridge. I was totally over it!

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: Typical river scene with people doing their washing.

: At Rainbow Bridge in the town of Qinghua.

: At Rainbow Bridge in the town of Qinghua.

We got back at 1830 … more than 10 hours since we left. The Fuzhou girls were impressive with their stamina. Despite their platform flip-flops, they went up and down the mountains and caves as quickly as anyone else (faster at times), while holding an umbrella in one hand and clutching their Gucci-style handbags in the other armpit and playing with their iPhones.

While we had only requested sights #1, 3 and 6, the hotel had a standard routing which they recommended so we just went with the flow. Totally enjoyable and worthwhile.

The Business Model and trickle down

Yesterday I mentioned the 5-day chipcard pass to enter various designated villages. A bit more about that … while you give your fingerprint at initial purchase, no personal information is collected so it is completely anonymous. Presumbly some joint authority (sitting across the various villages) collects the revenue and apportions it to each village.

What I do wonder about is the business model:

In each village, we visit several old homes and/or ancestral halls. These are effectively people’s homes … yes, living-and-working homes … you just walk in and have a little peek around. Do the authorities give them a set-fee per ticket scanned into the village?
How do locals benefit from the tourism model? Most visitors are “drop-in and walk-through” … if the locals are lucky, they may buy some trinkets and some snacks. Some locals benefit from offering guiding services. But on the whole it appears the trickle down benefit is quite limited.
I believe I’ve supported the local businesses a bit more by staying three nights, buying meals and purchasing transport services. However, all these is only at my domicile of Little Likeng. How do the other villages that I briefly visit benefit?

By the way, I did not purchase any guiding services … not that I have anything against it but simply because I wouldn’t understand what they’re saying. Some travellers have this thing against local guides (or trinket stalls) but to me it is a valid form of service or business by which locals get an income. I guess the key is moderation … an excess or proliferation of he pushy-type simply spoils the atmosphere. The Wuyuan area is definitely far from that stage.